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Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by bacterial mixture

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Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread pollutants and they can cause cancer, abnormality and mutation. Nine natural PAHs-degrading bacteria were obtained from polluted areas. These bacteria and the bacterial mixture can degrade phenanthrene, anthracene, pyrene and benzo[a]pyrene. The bacterial mixture can increase the degradation rates of several PAHs compounds, such as phenanthrene and benzo[a]pyrene, during the repaired process, and the degradation rates of these compounds were over 83%. The efficient degradation of PAHs should be the cooperation of key enzymes, such as dioxygenase and dehydrogenase, in the bacterial mixture. The main accumulated metabolite of above four PAHs was dibutyl phthalate detected by gas chromatography mass spectrometry, indicating that the degradation process of PAHs mainly represented the phthalic acid pathway in this work. And the toxicity of PAHs could be decreased by biodegradation. The effects of cultural factors, such as culture time, temperature, metal ions and pH on PAHs degradation efficiency were also studied.

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Acknowledgements

This programme was financed by the Department of Jilin Province Science & Technology under [Grant Number 20190301055NY], the Development and Reform Commission of Jilin Province under [Grant Number 2019C055-2]; the Education Department of Jilin Province under [Grant Number JJKH20200323KJ] and the National Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, Northeast Normal University [Grant Number 2019-001].

Funding

This study was funded by the Department of Jilin Province Science & Technology under [Grant Number 20190301055NY]; the Development and Reform Commission of Jilin Province under [Grant Number 2019C055-2]; the Education Department of Jilin Province under [Grant Number JJKH20200323KJ]; the National Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, Northeast Normal University [Grant Number 2019–001].

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Author notes

  1. M. Xu, M. Wu has contributed equally for this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Science, Key Laboratory of Straw Biology and Higher Value Application, the Ministry of Education, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, People’s Republic of China

    M. Xu, M. Wu, Y. Zhang, G. Chen, G. Xiong & L. Guo

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    H. Zhang

  3. College of Resources and Environment, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, People’s Republic of China

    W. Liu

  4. Institute of Toxicology and Pharmacology, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    G. Xiong

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  1. M. Xu
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  3. Y. Zhang
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  8. L. Guo
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection by Miao Xu, Ming Wu, Yingyuan Zhang, Haitao Zhang, Wencong Liu and Guang Chen. Data analysis and arrange were performed by Miao Xu, Guangming Xiong and Liquan Guo. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Miao Xu and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. Guo.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Editorial responsibility: Maryam Shabani.

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Xu, M., Wu, M., Zhang, Y. et al. Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by bacterial mixture. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 3833–3844 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03284-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03284-4

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